The Hindu News Analysis – October 01, 2018

Current Affairs for NDA/CDS/AFCAT/Airforce X&Y GroupsNews Analysis from THE HINDU (October 01, 2018)

1. India chases away Pakistan copter breaching airspace

It was carrying PoK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider for a condolence meeting

The Army on Sunday said the troops manning the Line of Control (LoC) in the Pir Panjal Valley’s Poonch district opened fire at a Pakistani helicopter, which was carrying Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, after it violated the airspace agreement signed by the two countries.

2. Kanniyakumari’s lighthouse set to beam anew

In a first, the 19th century Muttom facility will become a tourist attraction offering 60 cottages

Tenders will soon be called for the construction of 60 cottages by the Noida-based Directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships. The Directorate has administrative control of the entire national coastline, which is divided into nine districts ranging from Gandhidam to Port Blair.

A restaurant-cum-food court, coffee shop and recreational centre are among the facilities that the department has included.

First such resort

“This will be the first such lighthouse in the country to get such facilities. It will be constructed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

All the required approvals, including under the CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) rules, have been obtained and sent to the Union Shipping Ministry for final approval,” said D. Venkatraman, Director-Chennai Region, Directorate of Lighthouses and Lightships.

The Britsh-era Muttom Lighthouse is 15.22 m tall and situated 34 m above sea level. Construction began in 1857 and the structure was completed in 1882. The lighthouse guided vessels sailing between Colombo and ports along India’s west coast. It was formally commissioned on January 1, 1910.

The Muttom Lighthouse is about 20 km from Nagercoil and 10 km from the tourist spot of Eraniel. There are several beaches nearby. It is still functional and guides fishermen and passing ships. Guests are allowed up the lighthouse and can get a view after a quick climb.

3. Indonesia tsunami toll rises to 832

The toll from an earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia soared on Sunday to 832, with authorities fearing that it will only climb as rescuers struggle to reach outlying communities cut off from communications and help.

With most of the confirmed deaths from Palu, authorities are bracing for much worse as reports filter in from outlying areas, in particular Donggala, a region of 3,00,000 people north of Palu and close to the epicentre of the quake.

4. Berhampur launches drive to ‘cure’ trees

Using the knowledge of senior botanists, nature lovers initiated an experimental effort in Odisha’s Berhampur on Sunday to cure trees affected by human activities by using traditional ingredients.

5. Amul alternative economic model: PM

Inaugurating a new chocolate-making factory set up by dairy giant Amul in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said a cooperative like Amul is a viable economic alternative to capitalist and socialist models.

The factory is an expansion of an already functional confectionery unit of Amul near Anand. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation is India’s largest farmers’ cooperative.

Credits Sardar Patel

Mr. Modi credited Sardar Patel, who founded the Kheda Milk Union, for creating the model. “Sardar saheb sowed the seed for a third economic model — controlled neither by government nor capitalists. Instead, it was created with the cooperation of farmers and people and everybody was a part of it. This is one viable alternative to socialism and capitalism,” Mr. Modi said.

The new plant is a ₹533-crore premium chocolate plant. A nutritional food unit, the Anand Agriculture University Centre of Excellence in Food Processing, and a ₹20 crore Vidya Dairy ice cream plant were launched simultaneously.

The Prime Minister also launched a solar cooperative society at Mujkuwa village, constructed with the help of the Anand-based National Dairy Development Board.

In Kutch, the Prime Minister inaugurated a gas pipeline and LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal set up by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

6. Madhya Pradesh to have Cow Ministry: Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday announced the setting up of a Ministry for cows. “The Cow Ministry will replace the existing Madhya Pradesh Gaupalan Evam Pashudhan Samvardhan Board because it (board) has limitations,” he said in Khajuraho.

7. In Parliament’s court

Data from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) indicate that 179 out of the 543 elected Members of Parliament in the present Lok Sabha have some kind of criminal case pending against them. While it is true that some of these may be of a frivolous nature, it is also true that many of these cases concern allegations of their involvement in serious crimes. In the case of over 100 MPs, the cases were of a very serious nature such as crimes against women and kidnapping. There seems to be very little improvement in this regard in the last five years. In the previous Lok Sabha (2009), 163 had criminal cases pending against them, many of which were of a serious nature. The profile of members of the Upper House is no better; of 228 members of the Rajya Sabha for whom data could be analysed, 20 have cases of serious crimes pending against them.

While political parties raise concern about candidates with a tainted background contesting elections and getting elected, none of them come forward to set an example for others when it is time to act. Among the Bharatiya Janata Party’s MPs (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), 107 (32%) have criminal cases pending against them. Of them, 64 (19%) have cases of serious crimes pending against them. The Congress is only a shade better than the BJP; 15 MPs (15%) have criminal cases pending against them, of whom eight (8%) have cases of serious criminal offences pending against them. There is hardly any difference between the national and regional parties in this regard. In the Shiv Sena, 18 MPs (86%) have criminal cases pending against them, of whom 10 (48%) are alleged to be involved in serious criminal cases. Of all MPs, six each of the Nationalist Congress Party (55%) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (67%) have serious criminal cases pending against them. Going by the ADR’s estimates, there are more than 1,500 MPs and MLAs in Parliament and State Assemblies with criminal cases pending against them.

8. India won the Asia Cup

India won its seventh Asia Cup but the honours for winning hearts firmly belonged to Afghanistan. A decade ago, Afghanistan was playing in Division Five of the ICC World Cricket League, competing against the likes of Norway, Vanuatu and Japan. The cricketing baby-steps first practised in the refugee camps near Peshawar in Pakistan were seen both as a distraction from the strife back home, and equally as a shot at forging a new life. Just this May, eight people were killed in a bomb explosion at a stadium at Jalalabad. Seen in that context, cricket has been a soothing balm, and the team led by Asghar Afghan dished out a rousing show with easy victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group games and then suffered tense, last-over losses to Bangladesh and Pakistan in the Super Four. In the dramatic tie against India, opener Mohammad Shahzad batted with aplomb and the spinners played a key role in restricting India. Afghanistan’s cricketers can no longer be treated as mere journeymen or plucky amateurs who ride on luck. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan is the world’s top-rated T20I bowler and second on the ICC’s rankings for ODIs. Teenage off-break bowler Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been impressive, with other promising spinners waiting to break through. Emerging cricketing nations can draw inspiration from Afghanistan; its momentum must be nurtured by adequate support from powerful cricket boards. India has already provided a training base in Noida; others should follow suit.

9. The road to e-vehicles

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das recently announced that his government has introduced electric vehicles for official use. While 20 vehicles have been acquired for the first phase, another 30 are expected to be added to the fleet in the coming weeks. It has also been reported that 12 charging stations have been set up in Ranchi so far, and several more are slated to come up.

In the current scenario of soaring fuel prices and the spectre of climate change looming large over the planet, it is a welcome development that a State government is taking the lead in switching to e-vehicles. Not only does this reduce the burden of fuel bills on the exchequer, it is also in sync with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong pitch in favour of electric vehicles at the recently held Global Mobility Summit in New Delhi. “Clean mobility powered by clean energy is our most powerful weapon in our fight against climate change,” Mr. Modi had said as he batted for investments in electric vehicles and charging stations.

In this context, it is well known that government officials are tremendous guzzlers of fossil fuel. If ministers and politicians are taken as a single category of consumers, their per capita and per kilometre consumption of fossil fuel is likely to be many times higher than that of most ordinary users, given their penchant for moving around accompanied by lengthy convoys of gas-guzzling escort vehicles.

Electric vehicles are also an integral component of smart cities, as they are an automatic assumption in frameworks of smart transportation. Meanwhile, the government needs to speed up the formulation of rules for e-vehicles as a category, and come up with an India-specific road map for a transition that needs to be smooth if only because it is inevitable.

10. Reciprocity anxiety

Psychology

This refers to the anxiety caused after receiving a favour from someone. Soon after receiving a favour, many people feel obliged to reciprocate it in kind. This can cause many human interactions to simply become transactional. A person who receives a free dinner from a friend, for instance, may feel obliged to reciprocate by hosting the friend at a later time. Some psychologists have also argued that people with ulterior motives may try to manipulate others into doing things that they want by first offering them a favour that the other party may feel obliged to reciprocate.

11. S-400, Kamov on the agenda of Modi, Putin

Ahead of the bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week, discussions are “still under way” between the two sides to conclude a final deal for 200 Kamov-226T utility helicopters.

India and Russia have already concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 200 helicopters estimated to cost over $1 billion. Under the deal, 60 helicopters will be imported from Russia and at least another 140 will be built in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) with technology transfer. As part of this, a joint venture was set up in India which will build the helicopters.

In October 2016, the two countries concluded IGA for five S-400 systems and four stealth frigates after which the negotiations began to conclude a commercial contract.

12. Social media giants to help EC clean up poll campaign

Internet major Google and social media giants Twitter and Facebook have assured the Election Commission that they will not allow their platforms to be used for anything which affects the sanctity of polls during the campaign period, Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat has said.

He said this was tested during the Karnataka elections. “A small pilot was there. That was the beginning. Now we will have a bigger pilot before the Lok Sabha elections in the four States of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram,” the CEC said.

13. Centre owes Air India over ₹1,146.86 crore

The government owes Air India ₹1,146.86 crore for VVIP chartered flights to foreign countries, an RTI query reveals. In reply to an application by Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd), the airline said on September 26 that the Defence Ministry had outstanding bills of ₹211.17 crore, the Cabinet Secretariat and the PMO ₹543.18 crore and the External Affairs Ministry ₹392.33 crore. Some bills are a decade old.

14. Hamilton wins after Bottas obeys orders

Valtteri Bottas moved aside to let Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton win the Russian Grand Prix and surge 50 points clear in the Formula One championship on Sunday with five races remaining.

The victory was a landmark 70th for the Briton, who is well on his way to a fifth title and is now 21 wins behind the all-time record of 91 held by seven times champion Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton’s closest rival Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari with Bottas, who led from pole position but was told to let Hamilton through after 25 of the 53 laps, securing the Mercedes one-two.

15. Dominant Europe regains crown

Francesco Molinari fittingly took the glory as Europe regained the Ryder Cup in dominant style on Sunday, the Italian beating Phil Mickelson on the 16th to post the point needed to reach the magic tally of 14.5. In the end, Europe wrapped it up 17.5 to 10.5.

16. Bronze for Deepika

India’s Deepika Kumari defeated Lisa Unruh in the play-off to clinch the bronze in the Archery World Cup Finals SAMSUN (TURKEY) on Sunday.

Both the players were tied 5-5 at the end of five sets, which necessitated a shoot-off. Deepika and Unruh both shot nine but the Indian won the bronze as her arrow was closer to the target.

This was Deepika’s fifth World Cup Finals podium.

17. Nishioka clinches maiden ATP singles crown

Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka broke through for his maiden ATP singles title on Sunday, outlasting seasoned Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in a gruelling Shenzhen Open final.

18. Bernard Tomic claims first title in three years

Controversial Australian Bernard Tomic won his first significant tournament in three years on Sunday, saving four match points, to stun top seed Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(7) and take the Chengdu Open.